List of longest-serving mayors in the United States explained

Some of the longest-serving mayors in the United States are listed according to their length of service in that currently or has served in that part of the state or legislative office. The office of mayor is the highest ranking local official and responsibilities may vary from ceremonial (see weak mayor) to full-time responsibility for city operations (see strong mayor).

Current serving mayors

A list of mayors still in office and ordered by their length of continuous service in that office. (If there is a break in their service, then this length is measured from their return to the office.)

The longest-serving current mayor of one of the 50 largest cities in the United States is Carolyn Goodman, who has been mayor of Las Vegas since July 6, 2011.

Years	Name	Municipality	Notes
	Margaret M. Doud	Mackinac Island, Michigan	Entered office on April 14, 1975.^[1]
	Robert Heidenescher	Dupont, Ohio	Entered office on January 5, 1976.^[2]
	William D. Tate	Grapevine, Texas	Entered office on May 1, 1973. Served May 1, 1973 – May 1, 1985 and May 1, 1988–present^[3]
years	Lamar Scroggs		Entered office in 1976.^[4]
years	Harold Rainwater	Wilmore, Kentucky	Entered office in 1976.^[5]
	Rutledge B. Leland, III	McClellanville, South Carolina	Entered office in 1976.^[6]
	Robert Chatfield	Prospect, Connecticut	Entered office on November 7, 1977.
years	Phil Williams	McLemoresville, Tennessee	Entered office in 1977.^[7] He is the longest serving mayor in Tennessee history.
years	Marvin Johnson	Independence, Minnesota	Entered office in 1979.
years	Mary Hawkins Butler	Madison, Mississippi	Entered office in 1981.
	Jeffery D. Schielke	Batavia, Illinois	Entered office on May 4, 1981.^[8]
	Gerald R. Bennett	Palos Hills, Illinois	Entered Office in 1981 ^[9]
	Mark Anthony McClure	Danville, West Virginia	Entered office on July 6, 1981.
	James V. Bender Jr	Pollocksville, North Carolina	Entered office on November 1, 1982.
	William "Bill" McIntosh	Moultrie, Georgia	Entered office in 1983.
	Duane Dawson	Milan, Illinois	Entered office on May 6, 1985.^[10]
years	Louie Davis	Waldo, Florida	Entered office in 1985.
38 years	Dennis M. Clough	Westlake, Ohio	Entered office in 1986.^[11]
	Carlos López Rivera	Dorado, Puerto Rico	Entered office on August 3, 1987.
	Dr. Ravi Bhasker	Socorro, New Mexico	Entered office on November 6, 1990.
	Richard Turner	Weehawken, New Jersey	Entered office July 1, 1990^[12]
	James M. Cahill	New Brunswick, New Jersey	Entered office on January 1, 1991.^[13]
		J. Christian Bollwage	Elizabeth, New Jersey	Entered office on January 1, 1993.^[14]
	Dean J. Mazzarella	Leominster, Massachusetts	Entered office on January 3, 1994.

Former mayors

A list of mayors in order of their total length of service. (If there is a break in their service, then this length is measured as the sum of their terms.)

Years	Name	Municipality	Notes
	Hilmar Moore	Richmond, Texas	Served from September 22, 1949, until his death on December 4, 2012.^[15]
	John H. Land	Apopka, Florida	Served from January 1, 1950, to January 1, 1968, and from January 1, 1971, to April 22, 2014.
60 years	Charles E. Long	Booneville, Kentucky	Served from 1958 until his death on August 3, 2019.^[16]
	Robert Linn	Beaver, Pennsylvania	Served from January 2, 1946, to August 22, 2004.
	Bruce Arnold	Valparaiso, Florida	Served from January 21, 1964, until his death on February 23, 2017.
56 years	Paul Jurko	Yankee Lake, Ohio	Served from November, 1931 until his death on March 1, 1988.
	Robert L. Butler	Marion, Illinois	Served from May 6, 1963^[17] until his resignation on January 31, 2018.^[18]
52 years	Gerald Calabrese	Cliffside Park, New Jersey	Served from 1961 to 1963 and 1965 to 2015.^[19] ^[20]
52 years	Frank Caliper	Colp, Illinois	Served from 1935 until his death on March 28, 1987.
	John M. Coyne	Brooklyn, Ohio	Served from 1948 to January 2000.^[21] ^[22]
	Donald Stephens	Rosemont, Illinois	First Mayor of Rosemont. Served from village's incorporation in 1956 to 2007.
	Robert M. Blais	Lake George, New York	Served from April 5, 1971, to April 1, 2023.^[23] ^[24]
	Dock Hulett Gabbert	Derma, Mississippi	Served from July 1, 1969, to December 30, 2020.^[25]
	Leonard Scarcella	Stafford, Texas	Served from September 4, 1969, until his death on June 28, 2020.^[26]
	Leonard T. Connors	Surf City, New Jersey	Served from 1966 to January 5, 2016.
	Frank E. Rodgers	Harrison, New Jersey	Served from September 4, 1946, to August 22, 1995.
	Randall Wise	Niceville, Florida	Served from August, 1972 until his death on January 20, 2020.
48 years	John Lewis Gay	Berea, Kentucky	Served from 1910 to 1958.
47 years, 11 months	Frank Kelly	Collingdale, Pennsylvania	Served from 1970 until his death on November 22, 2018.
	Nicholas B. Blase	Niles, Illinois	Served from May 2, 1961, until his resignation on August 25, 2008.^[27]
	Milt Kramer		Served from September 19, 1974, to January 1, 2022.
	Noel B. Cummings	Hodgkins, Illinois	Served from 1979 until his formal retirement was announced on Oct. 3, 2022 at the age of 95.^[28]
	H. Ford Gravitt	Cumming, Georgia	Served from January 1, 1971, to December 31, 2017.
46 years, 222 days	Joseph Sieb	Norridge, Illinois	Served from November 14, 1951, until his death on June 23, 1998.^[29]
44 years	Charles "Sonny" Penhale	Helena, Alabama	Served from 1968 to 2012.^[30]
44 years	Thomas M. Tartt	Livingston, Alabama	Served from 1980 to February 22, 2024.
44 years	Gerald H. Thompson	Fitzgerald, Georgia	Served from January 1, 1968, to January 1, 2012.
years	Richard A. Mola	Elmwood Park, New Jersey	Served from 1972 until his death in 2016.^[31]
	Paul W. Cassidy	Parma Heights, Ohio	Served from January, 1958 to January, 2001.^[32]
	Tom Reid	Pearland, Texas	Served from 1978 to 1990 and 1993 to May, 2020.
years	Gary W. Starr	Middleburg Heights, Ohio	Entered office in 1981.
	Erastus Corning II	Albany, New York	Served from January 2, 1942, to May 28, 1983.
	Harold Wayne Ford	Galva, KS	Served from June 6, 1977, to January 31, 2019. He was the longest serving mayor of Galva, KS.^[33]
41 years	Glenn L. Sisco	Kinnelon, New Jersey	Served from 1969 to 2010.
40 years	George C. Clanton	Tappahannock, Virginia	Served from 1948 to 1988
	Joseph P. Riley Jr.	Charleston, South Carolina	Served from December 15, 1975, to January 11, 2016.
years	Louis Bay 2nd	Hawthorne, New Jersey	Served from 1947 to 1987.
	William W. Dickinson Jr.	Wallingford, Connecticut	Served from January 2, 1984, to December 31, 2023.
	John Ferrero	City of Industry, California	Served from Industry's incorporation in 1957 till his death on September 26, 1996.^[34]
37–38 years	James Eagan	Florissant, Missouri	Served from 1963 to 2000.
36 years	Ross Aragon	Pagosa Springs, Colorado	Served from 1978 to 2014
36 years	Randall Ramsey	Parma, Missouri	Served from 1962 to 1974 and from 1991 to 2015.^[35]
	Orville L. Hubbard	Dearborn, Michigan	Served from 1942 to 1978.
	Edward J. Zabrocki	Tinley Park, Illinois	Served from May 1, 1981, until his resignation in June, 2016.
34–35 years	Willis Conner	Dexter, Missouri	Served for about 35 years.^[36]
34–35 years	Glendel Stephenson	Mebane, North Carolina	Served from 1975 to 1983 and 1993 to 2019.^[37] ^[38]
33 years, 10 months	David W. Smith	Newark, California	Served from March 1978 to December 2011^[39] ^[40]
33 years, 3 months	Joseph Barabe	Mellen, Wisconsin	Served from April 1987 to April 2001 and April 2003 to July 2022
33 years	Richard A. Nowack	Oak Grove, Illinois	Served from May 1978 until his death on September 20, 2011.^[41]
33 years	Joseph Smith	East Newark, New Jersey	Served from 1987 to 2020^[42]
32 years	Anthony Vacco	Evergreen Park, Illinois	Served from 1969 to 2001.
32 years	Shawn Hogan	Hornell, New York	Served from 1985 to 2017.
32 years	Kenneth J. Sims	Euclid, Ohio	Served from 1938 until his retirement in June 1970^[43]
31 years, 6 months	James A. Anzaldi	Clifton, New Jersey	Entered office July 1, 1990 and left office on December 31, 2022^[44] ^[45]
	Frank Hague	Jersey City, New Jersey	Served from 1917 to 1947.
30 years	Richard Homrighausen	Dover, Ohio	Served from 1992 until his suspension from office in May 2022
30 years	Emmett Dofner Jr.	McClelland, Iowa	Served from 1987 until his death on May 2, 2017.^[46]
	Daniel R. Brooks	North College Hill, Ohio	Served from January 1, 1984, until his resignation on December 21, 2013
	Dr. LeRoy G. Suire	Erath, Louisiana	Served from 1961 to 1990.
	Willie Oswalt	Lake City, Georgia	Served from 1989 to 2018.
	Arnold Klentz	West Allis, Wisconsin	Served from April 18, 1944, until his death on March 5, 1973.^[47] ^[48] ^[49]
	Don Plusquellic	Akron, Ohio	Served from January 1, 1987, until his resignation on May 31, 2015.
28 years, 4 days	James Brainard	Carmel, Indiana	Served from January 1, 1996 to January 4, 2024
28 years	Paul Amico	Secaucus, New Jersey	Served from 1964 to 1992.^[50]
28 years	Henry Clark	Stephenville, Texas	Served from 1928 to 1956.^[51]
	Henry Maier	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Served from 1960 to 1988.^[52]
28 years	Walter A. Scott	Jackson, Mississippi	Served from 1917 to 1945.^[53]
28 years	Thomas Gerard Dunn	Elizabeth, New Jersey	1964 to 1992. Longest-serving mayor of a city of more than 100,000 people.^[54]
28 years	George H. Lysle	McKeesport, Pennsylvania	Served from 1914 to 1942.^[55]
	Stephen R. Reed	Harrisburg, Pennsylvania	Served from 1982 to 2010.
	Don Robart	Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio	Served from 1986 to 2013.
26 years, 30 days	Miguel A. Pulido	Santa Ana, California	Served from 1994 to 2020.
26 years	Manuel Lamela Abreu	Quebradillas, Puerto Rico	Served from 1918 to 1944.
24 Years	Timothy Hanna	Appleton, Wisconsin	Served From 1996 to 2020.
23 Years	John W. Preece	Delbarton, West Virginia	Served from 1997 to 2019, was reelected in 2023, but passed away during his term^[56]

Notes

Notes and References

1. News: Atkins. Harry. Tradition Followed, But Also Broken in Mackinac. April 9, 1975. The Lewiston Daily Sun. Lewiston, Maine. 11. December 2, 2023. Google News Archive.
2. News: New Mayor Takes Over at Dupont. January 8, 1976. NewspaperArchive. 12. Defiance Crescent News. Defiance, Ohio. December 3, 2023.
3. Web site: Mayor – William D. Tate Grapevine, TX – Official Website. www.grapevinetexas.gov. en. 2018-05-07.
4. News: Mayor Scroggs holds top post for over 45 years . 15 July 2023 . AccessWDUN . 27 October 2021.
5. A RESOLUTION honoring Wilmore Mayor Harold Rainwater as the longest-serving mayor in Kentucky.. House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. 16 April 2016. 2318. Resolution.
6. Rutledge B. Leland III. South Carolina General Assembly. 1 February 2018. 4821. House Resolution.
7. Web site: McLemoresville Officials Administered Oath of Office. The Mckenzie Banner.
8. News: Staff. Batavia Government Center to be named for Mayor Jeff Schielke. September 7, 2022. Shaw Local News Network. December 12, 2023. subscription. September 7, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220907163302/https://www.shawlocal.com/kane-county-chronicle/news/2022/09/07/batavia-government-center-to-be-named-for-mayor-jeff-schielke/. When he first took office on May 4, 1981, Schielke was the youngest mayor in Batavia's history at age 32..
9. Web site: Mayor Bennett's Biography.
10. News: Milan Gets New Officials. May 7, 1985. NewspaperArchive. 7. The Rock Island Argus. Rock Island, Illinois. April 11, 2024.
11. Web site: Mayor Dennis M. Clough Biography Westlake, OH - Official Website . 2024-03-07 . www.cityofwestlake.org.
12. Web site: 25 years of Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner. Kathryn Brenzel | NJ Advance Media for. NJ.com. July 26, 2015. nj.
13. Web site: Mayors Office | New Brunswick, NJ. www.cityofnewbrunswick.org.
14. Web site: Our Mayor | Elizabeth, NJ. www.elizabethnj.org.
15. Web site: 15 mayors in major cities that have served as long – or longer – than Cleveland's Frank Jackson. November 9, 2017. cleveland.
16. Web site: Charles E. Long – View Obituary & Service Information. Charles E. Long Obituary.
17. News: Marion City Council Takes Office Today. May 6, 1963. 3. The Southern Illinoisan. December 2, 2023. Newspaper Archive. registration.
18. News: Halstead. Marilyn. Marion Mayor Bob Butler says he will retire Jan. 31. December 1, 2017. The Southern Illinoisan. December 28, 2017. December 29, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171229053737/http://thesouthern.com/news/local/communities/marion/marion-mayor-bob-butler-says-he-will-retire-jan/article_65bdcbee-4593-547c-9f65-7cb59aac8034.html. live.
19. https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/man-believed-jerseys-longest-serving-mayor-dies-30295205 "Man Believed to Be New Jersey's Longest-Serving Mayor Dies"
20. Web site: Hundreds gather at funeral for Gerry Calabrese, N.J.'s longest serving mayor – News – NorthJersey.com . 2020-08-13 . 2016-03-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074112/http://www.northjersey.com/news/hundreds-gather-at-funeral-for-gerry-calabrese-n-j-s-longest-serving-mayor-1.1311767 . dead .
21. Web site: Iallonardo. Tony. U.S. Has New "Longest-Serving Mayor. United States Conference of Mayors. November 15, 1999. April 29, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20090413005721/http://www.usmayors.org/usmayornewspaper/documents/11_15_99/US_has.htm. dead. 2009-04-13.
22. The date of inauguration for Mayor John Coyne is not clear. It is clear that his successor, Kenneth Patton, took office in January 2000. References appear to confuse the 1999 election defeat with the day he left office. Most references state that he served 52 years, some from 1947–1999, a few from 1948 to 1999, and others from 1948 to 2000.
23. News: Arnold. Chad. Blais celebrates 50 years as Lake George mayor. April 7, 2021. Adirondack Daily Enterprise. It was April 5, 1971 when he presided over his first Village Board meeting, shortly after taking his oath of office as mayor.. December 3, 2023.
24. News: DeCamilla. Jana. Mayor Perry: Ushering in a new era of Lake George Village. April 8, 2023. The Post-Star. He (Perry) began his new position on April 1, after serving on the Lake George Village Board of Trustees. December 3, 2023.
25. News: State's longest serving mayor dies from COVID-19 complications. William. Moore. December 31, 2020. Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. Tupelo, Mississippi.
26. Web site: Mayor of Stafford, the longest-serving mayor in the nation, dies at 79. Tierra. Smith. June 29, 2020. KPRC.
27. Book: Schneider, Andrew. Nick Blase: The Prince of Niles, Illinois. The History Press. 2012. Charleston, SC. 9781609495497.
28. Web site: The Village of Hodgkins Communicator (Fall 2022 yet to be released on website. Hardcopy was sent to residents on Oct 3, 2022) . Village of Hodgkins, Illinois.
29. Web site: Village History | Village of Norridge.
30. Web site: Alec. Etheredge . 2021-01-22. 'He bled Helena': Former Helena Mayor Sonny Penhale dies at 89. 2021-03-10. Shelby County Reporter.
31. Web site: Richard Mola Obituary (2016) – Elmwood Park, NJ – The Record/Herald News. www.legacy.com.
32. Web site: Mayor Paul W. Cassidy led Parma Heights for 43 years: news obituary. Grant. Segall. July 11, 2013. Cleveland Plain Dealer.
33. Web site: Wayne Ford Obituary 2019 .
34. Web site: Legacy of Fallen Mayor Reverberates in Industry's Name . September 28, 1996 . June 20, 2023 . Los Angeles Times.
35. Web site: Tiny Missouri Town Plagued By Resignations After Electing First Black Mayor. April 21, 2015. NBC.
36. Web site: Missouri Obituary and Death Notice Archive. 2021-04-13.
37. Web site: Glendel Stephenson, Mayor – City of Mebane. cityofmebane.com. 2019-06-05.
38. Web site: Stephenson to retire after 35 years as Mebane's mayor. Williams. Jessica. The Times-News. en. 2019-06-05.
39. Web site: David W Smith City Hall- Newark, CA - People-Named Places on Waymarking.com. www.waymarking.com.
40. Web site: Longest Standing Mayor Bids Newark Farewell .
41. Web site: Richard A. Nowack Obituary. www.newspapers.com . 2024-04-11.
42. Web site: Grilo takes over for Hudson's longest-serving mayor. January 5, 2020. New Jersey Globe.
43. Web site: Williams. John. 2010-06-24. Sims – Leader and shaper of today's Euclid. 2022-02-15. Euclid Observer.
44. Rimbach, Jean. "New Clifton leaders make it official", The Record,July 2, 1990. Accessed December 18, 2023, via Newspapers.com. "Promising to guide Clifton in unity through what many say will be its toughest years yet, new Mayor James Anzaldi and his six council colleagues were sworn to office Sunday in a ceremony attended by more than 600 residents. The two-term councilman was named mayor by unanimous vote of the council during a small meeting that was later reenacted for the public."
45. Fagan, Matt. "Clifton's longest-serving mayor, James Anzaldi, not seeking reelection", The Record, August 31, 2022. Accessed December 18, 2023. "It appears that Clifton may get its first new mayor in 32 years.... He was first elected mayor by council colleagues in 1990, and he has remained the top vote-getter in every subsequent election."
46. Web site: Emmett E. Dofner Jr. Obituary – Visitation & Funeral Information. www.cutleroneill.com. en-US. 2019-08-24.
47. Book: Muchka, Albert. 2003. West Allis. Chicago. Arcadia Publishing. 57. 0-7385-3183-9.
48. Web site: Fond Du Lac Reporter Newspaper Archives March 06, 1973 Page 8. 2021-06-20. newspaperarchive.com. 6 March 1973. en.
49. Both sources agree that Klentz was inaugurated in 1944; West Allis gives a date of April 18. West Allis inaccurately gives Klentz's death date as March 1971, whereas the contemporary source cited gives it as March 5, 1973.
50. Web site: Paul Amico, a longtime Secaucus mayor, dies at 103 . 2022-12-20. usatoday.com. en.
51. News: 1959-08-28 . Obituary for Henry Clark (Aged 77) . 2024-08-15 . Fort Worth Star-Telegram . 4.
52. Web site: Maier Ends 28 Years As Milwaukee's Mayor on April 21, 1988. 2021-06-19. chicagotribune.com. 21 April 1988 . en.
53. Web site: Hattiesburg American from Hattiesburg, Mississippi on June 28, 1963 · 2. 2021-05-16. Newspapers.com. 28 June 1963 . en.
54. News: Thomas Dunn, 76, Longtime Elizabeth Mayor . Thomas G. Dunn...had served as mayor of the largely working-class city for 28 years, but he was defeated in his own party's primary in June 1992. Still, his tenure earned him the distinction as the nation's longest-serving mayor of a city of more than 100,000 people. . New York Times . 13 February 1998 . 2023-10-15 . Smothers . Ronald .
55. News: 1947-09-25 . MAYOR LYSLE obit . 2024-03-09 . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . 1.
56. Web site: 2023-12-19 . Delbarton Mayor John Preece to be remembered in funeral services . 2024-09-27 . WV MetroNews . en-US.